Doctor Who 2018 S11*

I don't think Whittaker is the problem. I think she's more than capable but she's playing the Doctor they are writing for IMO. There's really only so much you can do with what she's given.

Yeah they could've picked another Doctor but what would've been the difference if they still want type of Doctor and deliver the same scripts?

As for too little/too much woke, I recon if the writing was better the majority of those complaints would disappear, leaving only the hard core offended lot, that are impossible to satisfy anyway, left to complain. It's really down the writing for the most part.

 

I know what you are saying and Jodie can only say the lines that are written, but it's not just the lines, her whole persona is just some grinning fool who still hasn't settled into being the Doctor after all this time, I'd thought she was a good enough actor to overcome the scrips and give us something more, but apparently not, reminds me a bit of Matt Smith on a bad day, maybe Chibnall doesn't know what to do with a female Doctor and I agree that a fantastic story and script would make most of us happy whatever the other issues.

 

Fair point.

It's a bit of a shame really because they had a chance to do something really great. But I thought they dropped the ball with Capaldi as well.

 

My spelling is going to pot today, I think Capaldi started badly, but got better which Jodie hasn't so far and I really hope she does, also I guess being an old man Capaldi got away with more than Jodi, her face is more of a blank sheet than his.

 

It's clear that some here relish kicking the current Doctor. I'm more of a constructive person than a destructive one, so I'll simply say that the current planning/writing regime look seriously at comments the nay-sayers are offering and take them on board. The lass is a good actress but is perhaps overplaying her 'faces' for the young audience? This (possible) problem falls under a director's umbrella so they should shoulder that responsibility and give better direction. Easy solve.

However, for those wish to live in the past I thought I'd post these. A remembrance of a different era. In '85, as an assist to Bob Geldof's Band Aid fundraising, the UK Sci-Fi community got together for Fan Aid. It was held in Leeds and one of those giving up her time was Doctor Who legend Louise Jameson. Maybe some of you were there? Here's the few I took.

 

I dunno, I liked last season a lot better than this season (12). First story and now tonight's was seen this before somehow... only it was better back then, not as forced feeling in the running about segments of which there were a lot. One more and I'm gonna leave it to newer viewers to enjoy. This is like a machine was filled with all the past shows back to 1963 and it sort of coughs up something hoped to be fresh by the fact of the Doctor now being a woman (which still seems inexplicable to me, I'd have gone for Peter Dinklage for a different regeneration).

 

I thought this episode was good. It was kind of an homage to H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. The creatures were similar to The Morlocks in the sense that they mutated and were able to live in inhabitable environments and tried to feast upon the "normal" people (similar to the Eloi) within the dome.

 

Yeah, I concur. Very reminiscent of the Morlocks. Bit preachy at times, but I think kids will have got the message. More nods to the past; getting chased in tunnels, desolate quarries.... all good.

 

Yup.

I was enjoying it pretty much and then there was the Siberia reveal and I thought "Oh here we go" but I held out hope as they've done the world comes to an end thing before. But then they decided to bludgeon us with the message and that silly lecture at the end. It felt rather amateurish and something someone in high school would write.

 

I could tell while watching it that it would make a certain type of viewer flip out but I thought it all worked for the script. It makes sense that the doctor would give them a pep talk like that after what they've seen. It's not the first time that Doctor Who has tackled topical issues and it's not the first time that Doctor Who has been attacked by people complaining about liberal agendas or whatever though I think it's a shame that Global warming has been forced into a right vs left political issue when the real right-left issue should be what the best way to tackle the problem is.

 

I bailed on the show during Capaldi's first season. And this coming from a huge, lifelong fan of the show. I do want to catch up at some point but have no desire hearing/reading what episodes since then have been like. Too bad, this show has such amazing potential!

 

I enjoy this season even more than the last. The show has retained the spirit of the years that have past while making a new identity for itself in look and pacing. I like the larger than normal group of companions and how The Doctor encourages them to work together and learn from each other. Yes, the message of the week is often heavy handed, but it at least has one, and a positive one to boot.

Doctor Who of the last ten years has had a reliance on the past, with too many Dalek and Cybermen stories for my liking. I'm happy to see The Doctor return to a figure of mystery. The show still makes happy. That's why I still watch.

 

Like the previous season, complete drivel. End of review.

 

I'm a major supporter of the message of the episode, apologist of corny DW episodes, and fan of Chibnall's run but the last beat was so lame — down to the freeze frame. I get that it's a "kids show" but it's insulting to audiences over the age of 6 to assume they didn't get the already painfully obvious subtext of the episode. Cynically I would said if the writers really cared about the subject they would have made a more sophisticated and original episode. The episode won't be changing many minds, which I think is the real shame.

Next week's past episode should be better, as those seem to be Chibnall's strength.

 

Just jumping in and then out again because I've just seen the first four eps of season 11, and wanted to give my opinion because goodness knows there aren't enough of those.

My impression of the first 4 eps of the premiere season of the 13th Doctor Who, or rather, their impressions of other films and shows:
1. Predator.
2. Pitch Black (the first Riddick film).
3. Quantum Leap.
4. Any film about spiders.
In short, I haven’t seen this much lack of imagination in any other “new Doctor” premiere season. Wouldn’t a new showrunner want to make a splash with something interesting? Four episodes in, and no effort is evident. I want to like this. I even watched the film Attack the Block to get a taste of the skills of Jodie Whittaker (the new Doctor) last year, and she’s good - she’s not the problem. The problem is the stories are BAF so far.

 

Credit where it's due, tonight's was the best episode so far, from an admittedly low starting point, I'll even ignore their attempts at baiting us with another woman, nice to see an old face back as well, Chibnall obviously needs a collaborator to create decent scripts.

 

so was it really another

Spoiler

Doctor

we saw tonight ?

 

Twists and turns.... I'm still holding out for a return of the Rani. Thought at first this might finally be it....

All good stuff though.

 

Spoiler: spoiler

Hard to say since both claimed they don't remember each other's past, since one is a past Doctor in relation to the other one, assuming both are truly the Doctor. I guess the one could just be another time lord with a TARDIS pretending to be The Doctor. Or just from an alternate time line where regenerations are not necessarily the same results. Also, that one Time Lord trying to kill The Doctor didn't recognize the Doctor either and didn't know about the 2nd destruction of Gallifrey. So maybe she was from an alternate time line too? Hopefully we find out all this soon and they don't drag it out over a couple years.

 

Spoiler: spoiler

I think I remember there was a classic doctor who episode (I can't remember which one though) where it mentioned previous regenerations so I'm assuming it is a past regeneration which The Doctor can't remember for whatever reason. It could be alternative universes but it doesn't feel like it's going in that direction especially since The Master spoke about The Time Lords lying about the past. I hope this won't be the only time they bring Jack back for this series, would be a bit of a tease to have him show up and then never meet the Doctor in person.

I do like that this season has more of a series arc too it. Series 11 had some interesting episodes but as the season went on I found myself looking forward to what is going to happen next, it didn't really feel like the show was going anywhere and ended in such an anticlimactic way.

 

Spoiler

I think in "The Brain of Morbius" when the Doctor is in a mental battle with Morbius, we see several faces that were supposed to represent incarnations preceding Hartnell's doctor. However, this has usually been either ignored or explained away over the years and I think any big change to established lore would annoy a lot of fans. I first thought that 'Ruth' was the doctor from a parallel universe, but hopefully all will be explained in the finale.

 

Spoiler

For a second I was thinking, wait... is this the Valyard? Are they going with that storyline? But I decided that it was more likely that Chibnal remembered the Morbius episode and decided to expand on that idea.

 

1st episode since JW came on board that actually held my attention and felt semi like real Doctor Who.